“Time for Action”: Is the Orthodox Church facing a “Brave New World”?

In recent years, our world has been experiencing unprecedented challenges. On the one hand, the coronavirus pandemic and on the other the everworsening climate crisis and, today, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, compose a gloomy scenario. Situations that just a few decades or years ago would have seemed like science fiction (social distancing, lockdown and restriction of the ritual expression of ecclesiastical communities around the globe, the rise of populism at the political and ecclesiastical level, fake news and hatred rhetoric, intensity of social discrimination and degradation of human rights, but also distortion of the orthodox morality, blurring of the ecclesiastical conscience and break, already since 2018, of the unity of Orthodoxy), are phenomena that fully dominate the public shpere. The above developments cause on the one hand tectonic upheavals in the world and the daily life of the citizens, while on the other they question the very future presence of Orthodoxy in Europe. Although the past prediction of the end of history (Francis Fukuyama) seemed to be unfulfilled at the moment, the marginal state of affairs that the globe faces today, combined with the peculiar version of the clash of civilizations (different from the one imagined by Samuel Huntington), being crystallized in the bipolarity between the unfree and authoritarian regimes on the one hand and liberal democracy on the other, they bring to the fore again the debate about the meaning of history, human responsibility for creation and the salvation of the world in its entirety.

Once again, Orthodoxy is at a critical crossroads, finding it difficult to rise to the occasion in front of these challenges, despite its rich spiritual tradition. Important theologians or official institutional representatives, from the traditional Orthodox countries, especially from Eastern Europe (e.g. Russia), make statements or take positions that express a fundamentalist understanding and interpretation of the glorious historical past but also of the present reality bringing to the surface dark expression that are inconsistent with the ecclesiastical mode of existence. The rapid developments that are taking place, not exclusively, but par excellence in the historical body of Orthodoxy, namely the so-called traditional orthodox countries (pandemic, climate change, Russian invasion of Ukraine, etc.), call for a fundamental reflection on the basic elements of the Orthodox or “Eastern” identity (cf. conference on the ‘Orthodox constructions of the East’). Today the deep, critical study of the history of theology, encapsulated in the thought of important Fathers (cf. conference for Symeon the New Theologian), but also of modern theologians (cf. conference for Amilkas Alivizatos) is considered as necessary as ever, aiming at the possible refinement of the theological criteria of theology and the deconstruction of historical constructions and inventions that obscure and distort the horizon in view of the coming Kingdom. The need to examine the conditions and parameters of theology has always been a critical quest for Orthodox theology, being already discussed in 1936, at the First Congress of Orthodox Theology. Over time, these criteria became unclear, as the various intra-Orthodox close connections to secular views and outdated pre-modern standards trapped the Orthodox Church and theology in a ruminant, a narrow interpretation of tradition, and the ideologization of past cultural forms, in the embrace of the power and kingdom of Caesar, ultimately preventing the radical renewal required by the challenges of our time. Despite occasional attempts at theological renaissance (theology of the Russian Diaspora, Greek theology of the 1960’s, etc.), the Church is still trapped in anachronistic ideological rivalries, in favor of an unhistorical approach to modern situations, ignoring the evangelical preaching and solidarity for the “other”. Moreover, the inability of Orthodoxy to denounce the “temptation of Judas,” that is, the adoption of ethnocentric notions in its mission in the world, or of a so-called “sacred” struggle against the immoral and corrupt West, reveals the difficulties and obstacles for a fertile and constructive reflection that would place the truth of the Gospel above the idols and shapes of its historical course.

In this perspective, the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, continuing the tradition of a discussion on current issues of theological reflection, including also self-criticism, has planned for the current year 2021-22 a series of events, lectures, book presentations, workshops and conferences in collaboration with other Orthodox or inter-Christian bodies, institutes and theological academies under the general title “Time for Action”. The Volos Academy, after two years of restricting its activities due to the health measuers of the coronavirus pandemic, returns to a dynamic, critical approach to the very foundations, the “first things” of Orthodox theology and the Church.